The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Volume 1991: Impossible to Meet the Runner-Up (1992- Season)

"Leeds United didn't win the league, we lost the damn trophy."

——Foreword

Chapter 181 Dusk and Dawn

"When the English Football League One entered its second season in the 90s, the league's landscape had changed dramatically. The Red Devils were still striving for the league title, but some traditional powerhouses had shown signs of fatigue, and some new teams had quietly emerged... The transformation of the strengths of many teams was like the new morning light shining after the dusk."

--Inscription

The Red Devils defeated the "Dream Team" Barcelona and won the Cup Winners' Cup. Not only did they shock the European football world with their image as a dark horse, they also received unanimous praise from major media for their outstanding performance in the final and were considered to have brought glory to English football.

Because of the ban, English clubs have not appeared in the three major European cups for five years, and the influence of English football has been greatly reduced. Ferguson's team emerged out of nowhere and defeated the Barcelona Dream Team that was already on the way to dominating La Liga and Europe, which can be regarded as re-polishing the brand of the English League.

With the Red Devils' victory, more English teams have become interested and motivated to participate in various cup competitions, and the exchanges between English football and the outside world have become more frequent. With the momentum of winning the European Cup Winners' Cup and successfully landing on the London Stock Exchange, the Red Devils have become the focus of attention in English football.

In the summer of 1991, Edwards and other senior executives were dazzled by the rising price of the Red Devils' stock after the successful listing. They excitedly announced on behalf of the club that they would make another big signing, aiming directly at the league championship in the new season.

One stone can cause a thousand ripples, and now all the media know the Red Devils' ambitions.

In the just-concluded 90-91 season, the Red Devils ranked sixth in the standings, with the top five clubs being Arsenal, Liverpool, Crystal Palace, Leeds United and Manchester City. Everton, Tottenham and Chelsea, which were considered strong teams at the time, ranked 6th to 5th respectively. Arsenal and Liverpool were clearly ahead, while Crystal Palace, Leeds United and Manchester City were more like spoilers, and the Red Devils were not expected to have any ability to compete for the championship. As for traditional strong teams such as Everton, Tottenham and Chelsea, as well as veteran teams such as Villa and West Ham United, they were not considered favorites to win the championship.

The results of one season cannot tell us much, but looking at the trends over several seasons we can find some signs that times have indeed changed.

Let's talk about Liverpool first. Liverpool lost the championship last season after falling behind Arsenal by 7 points. No one thought it was a sign, and no one thought it was a beginning. Unlike the previous loss of the championship due to goal difference, Dalglish's resignation last season dealt a heavy blow to Liverpool, especially the sudden announcement of the matter less than 4 hours after he chose the team to draw 4-48 with Everton, which was called a "bomb-like" blow by the media. The power of this bomb was so great that it not only immediately plunged Liverpool into a panic without a leader, but also caused some core players to decide to leave. Hansen, then the captain of Liverpool and the backbone of the defense, was troubled by a knee injury and failed to play even a minute in the 1990-91 season. He decided to retire 1 days after Dalglish resigned. Vice-captain Ronnie Whelan only played 10 league games. Steve McMahon, Ray Houghton, Bruce Grobbelaar and Molby all missed many important games, which greatly weakened Liverpool's overall strength. The whole team was in a mess, lost the advantage in the first half of the season, and eventually lost the championship to the Gunners.

Liverpool is now facing a dilemma. The selection of head coach is a huge challenge. The boot room tradition started by Shankly was broken by Dalglish. The second problem is that no matter who the new coach is, Liverpool's lineup must be updated. The previous championships covered up the problem of the team's aging, but losing the championship exposed the shortcomings to everyone. Grobbelaar, Heysen, Nicol, Whelan, McMahon, Houghton, Peter Beardsley and Ian Rush are all veterans, while Jimmy Carter, Venison, Barrows, Don Hutchison, Jamie Redknapp, Steve Harkness, Mike Marsh, Steve McManaman, Ronnie Rosenthal, David Speedy and others are still too young, and some are not capable enough to withstand the pressure of the giants and the heavy responsibility of the competition.

Although Liverpool is still the most prominent club in England and has the strongest appeal, its decline is like a waterfall, and it soon becomes uncontrollable. The contrast of this team is shocking. They can lead the standings and defeat the strongest enemies, but they can also lose to weak teams, lose consecutive games, and eventually lose the championship. In this summer, Liverpool began to buy and sell players continuously, entering a period of large-scale restructuring.

The media focused on whether Liverpool could wash away Dalglish's mark and rebuild a dominant team. Most media were not optimistic about Liverpool's successful reconstruction because the choice of coach was a big problem and their recruitment was not successful. Later facts told us that Liverpool was indeed unable to stop the downward trend and quickly sank, and was in a miserable situation of not being able to win the league championship for many years.

This is certainly related to Ferguson, but the fundamental reason is still themselves. Liverpool has a long history, profound heritage, and many famous players, but starting from this season, their reconstruction has entered a long black hole and has hardly succeeded again. After Ferguson led the team to win the first Premier League championship, Liverpool suffered a great setback. From then on, they experienced a dark age like a nightmare. Ferguson led the Red Devils to win championships and dominate the Premier League. Then Arsenal and Chelsea rose, and Liverpool even began to be gradually marginalized. Especially Ferguson, he led the Red Devils to continuous improvement. After becoming the overlord of the Premier League, he maintained desperate stability, continuously won championships, and finally helped the Red Devils surpass Liverpool in the number of top league championships and kicked the mortal enemy off the throne. Liverpool's decline is long-lasting. After Dalglish left, he once led Blackburn to win the championship, but he returned to Anfield after the new millennium to save the emergency, but he had lost his magic and could not lead the team to rise again.

In addition to Liverpool, Arsenal has risen strongly in the past few seasons and has become the focus of English football.

Arsenal rose rapidly under Graham's command and became the first team in English football that could compete with Liverpool. Graham led Arsenal to win the league championship last season, winning the league championship twice in three years, which shows the strength of the Gunners. The five veterans of the Gunners' defense have become synonymous with the steel wall. They only lost one league game throughout the season and conceded only 18 goals.

By the summer of 1991, Graham was full of confidence. He received increasingly lucrative contracts from the club and the team also got the opportunity to participate in the Champions League. Arsenal's goal was not only to defend the league title, but also to reach new heights in European football. Graham was very satisfied with the team this summer and fully believed that the main players could play for another year, so he did not bring in any stars.

Graham has ambitious goals and hopes to lead the team to win the top European honors. During the summer preparations, he asked Arsenal to put more energy into preparing for the European Champions League.

The lack of new players is not a good thing for Arsenal. Although the team structure is mature, physical strength and condition are big problems in multi-line operations. Arsenal's original main players have gradually lost their hunger. Without fresh blood joining, the team's desire and resilience will decline. This is exactly what happened later. In the intensive schedule of the Champions League and the league, Arsenal soon became overwhelmed. Arsenal is fighting on four fronts and the lineup is difficult to support. They began to have serious injury problems, which affected the team's strength. Although the Gunners' style is still tough and fierce, their players have frequently had problems with their condition, which has seriously affected the Gunners as a whole.

Arsenal had set out in high spirits in the summer of 1991, but struggled towards the end of the season. Graham had great ambitions, but he was unable to drive his players to be hungrier, and was unable to cope with widespread injuries, which ultimately led to difficulties on all fronts.

Another legendary team, Nottingham Forest, is heading for its final decline. Although they have won different domestic cup titles in recent seasons, they have never been able to challenge for the league title. Half of the team's fighting power depends on its own coach Clough, but the legendary coach has now lost the ability to compete for the championship. The truth is cruel. Competing for the league championship or the European Champions League championship does not rely solely on lofty ambitions, but requires truly building a super team. The coach and the players need to have super will and resilience, be able to face all setbacks without fear, have the belief of winning all difficulties, and continue to improve in tactics and playing style, so that the team always maintains a strong fighting power. Unfortunately, all this is over for Clough. Now he is addicted to alcohol and has long lost the ability to rebuild a championship-winning team and the tenacious will to command the team to compete for hegemony.

Last season, Crystal Palace surprisingly ranked third, becoming a dark horse. However, as The Guardian said, Crystal Palace and Manchester City, which ranked fifth, actually emerged suddenly. It is difficult for them to maintain sufficient strength and maintain a stable state. Generally speaking, they are two mid-table teams. As for other teams, whether it is Tottenham or Everton, whether it is Forest or West Ham, these traditional giants, they may still become championship contenders, but there are also many difficulties and challenges.

Only Leeds United is a surprising newcomer. Leeds United is not a traditional powerhouse in English football. Their most glorious period in history was in the 60s and 70s. After entering the 80s, the team fell into a series of difficulties. The White Rose has won the English First Division Championship, the European Inter-City Fairs Cup, the League Cup and the FA Cup, and has also reached the Champions League final. It can be regarded as a historical giant with a lot of heritage. After Armfield became the head coach in the 70s, he worked hard to improve the team's strength and reached the European Champions Cup final. Because of the referee's wrong judgment, they lost to Bayern Munich and lost the championship with great regret. Armfield coached Leeds United for four years, led the team to the Champions League final, won the UEFA Cup qualification, and reached the FA Cup and the English League Cup semi-finals. It can be regarded as the most glorious period.

After Armfield left, Leeds United quickly declined, unfortunately relegated to League Two in the 1981-82 season, and then struggled throughout the 80s. It was not until 1988 that Howard Wilkinson took office. He recruited Gordon Strachan from the Red Devils, and also recruited strong players such as Vinnie Jones, Mel Strang, Lee Chapman and Chris Fairclough. Wilkinson also attached great importance to youth training, actively cultivating David Batty and Gary Speed, etc., so that the team's strength was gradually strengthened. In the 1989-90 season, Leeds United returned to the League One as the champion of League Two after an interval of 8 years. Wilkinson continued to strengthen the team. John Luchik joined with a historically high price of 100 million pounds, and core players such as Chris White and Gary McAllister also joined one after another. Leeds United showed its dark horse nature in the 1990-91 season and finally achieved a good result of fourth place in the league.

Leeds United continued to recruit strong players this summer. Wilkinson had a keen eye for talent and boldly recruited Cantona. Tony Dorigo, Steven Hodge, Rod Wallace and others also joined. Before the start of the 91-92 season, Leeds United built a strong lineup. They had Strachan, Speed, McAllister, Batty, and the double wings Dorigo and Strand. The forwards had the goal-scoring machine Chapman and the French freak forward Cantona. Such a lineup was not eye-catching at the time, but Wilkinson was ambitious. They announced before the season that they would challenge the championship.

As the season unfolded, the English football media took a new look at them. The midfield consisting of Strachan, Batty, McAllister and Speed ​​was hailed as the most outstanding midfield combination. They played fast and fluently, with strong advancement and attacking capabilities. Combined with the outstanding performance of forwards Chapman and Cantona, and several powerful attackers in the midfield, the unnoticed Leeds United played very well.

In the summer of 1991, The Sun believed that Leeds United would become a new force in the league. "This team is full of confidence and vitality. They love to attack and always play fast and impactful football. It feels like facing the rising sun."